


They Paint a Pretty Picture

by orphan_account



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: A 'What If' Situation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anti-Depressants, Depression, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, NOT Ma///vid, Past Child Abuse, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, This Ain't "Bonquisha Broke Up With Me" Depression, This is "My Parents Hit Me and I Don't Feel Safe" Depression, dadvid, happy pills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 05:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20059033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A new bad habit of David's leads to the campers learning things they'd rather not have known.





	They Paint a Pretty Picture

**Author's Note:**

> Please y'all, if the subject of self-harm is triggering to you, do not read. Take care of yourselves, and surround yourselves with close friends and family members.

"You didn't take your pills again."

David grunted at the observation, glancing to Gwen quickly before taking a sip of the surprisingly bitter coffee he was drinking. He didn't really have the energy to do much else, and knew that he had a long day ahead of him, so he decided that he would go down the "Max Route," and make a cup of coffee. With his own David Twist, of course. In the mug, was a ridiculous mixture of creamer and sugar, leaving there to be literally less than 5% of actual coffee in the concoction. Gwen made a comment about how that was unhealthy, and that a few campers had watched him fix the drink, but he simply shrugged it off. He didn't have time to care, anyways.

Later that day, David had found himself perking up a bit, and he was able to play with some of the campers, up until it was time for him to get to the trouble making trio. As usual, the redhead was subject to name calling, pranks, and the constant reminder that not everything in the world was as happy-go-lucky as he thought. What wasn't usual, however, was the fact that David didn't say anything about his time with the three. No positive remarks, no attempts to make everything better, and no constant reminders to manage their language. The only thing the trio received, was blank stares, and hums of acknowledgment.

And to Hell if Max was going to take that lying down!

"What's up with you? Huh? Have you finally taken my advice and stopped trying to be so annoyingly cheery all of the time?" Max asked, following David back into the mess hall for lunch. David merely hummed, looking up at the clock, before sitting down and sighing. "Hey! I'm talking here! Weren't you the one who said it was fucking rude to not answer when someone's talking to you?"

A bored looked graced David's face, and he draped a hand over his eyes, deciding that it would help him to ignore the incessant attempts of getting him to break. Even though he was never really close to begin with. He was just really tired. In a camp like Camp Campbell, however, one was never really allowed to be tired until bedtime, and even then, some kids insisted on staying up another agonizing hour. Which explained why Max was still trying to use the muscle mass he barely had to move David's arm away from his face. It soon became apparent that David wasn't going to be paying attention any time soon, and Max whined, leaving to grab something, before coming back. In curiosity, David decided to keep his eyes covered, wondering what was about to happen to him.

"I'm going to hit you with this spoon until you pay attention to me." Max warned, holding up the plastic spoon in his hand, and lightly smacking it on David's arm. Not even two seconds later, was David bursting into laughter at the action, moving his arm from his face, and snickering as the spoon began hitting his chest instead. "This is for ignoring me all day!"

"Okay! Okay! I get it! I'm sorry for making you feel ignored." David chuckled, ruffling Max's hair.

"You're damn right I did! Because I _was_ being ignored!" Max huffed, crossing his arms before remembering why he was badgering David in the first place. "Why aren't you being so cheery today?"

An eerie silence followed the question between the two, and David sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. In no way did he want to tell Max what the problem was, because he knew that Max would make fun of him for it. Something that would most definitely cause him to break. And David didn't have time for that. Just like he didn't have time to eat, to sleep a full eight hours, to play with every kid in one day, to make sure everyone was being nice. It seemed as if David didn't have much time for anything anymore, and he didn't want to be made fun of for that. So, he simply settled on one of the most cliché statements.

"It's grownup stuff."

Max scoffed, rolling his eyes before moving closer. "I can handle stuff like that. I've handled things worse than you could ever imagine!"

"I'm sure you have." David muttered, looking across the mess hall to see Gwen scolding Nurf, and telling him why threatening to punch people was a bad idea. Something he most likely already knew. Looking around more, David took notice of how the other children were either poking at their poor excuse of lunch, or talking to each other happily. The display made David smile for a short second, before he was kicked in the shin. "OW! WHAT THE _FUCK_, MAX?!"

Everyone then turned their attention to the pair, eyes wide in shock. A soft, nervous giggle was all they got in return, before David stood and walked outside stiffly. Once he was gone, the group looked to Max accusingly, waiting for whatever it is he was willing to fess up to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everything's going to be fine, little lamb. You'll be alright. Just keep facing forward to the distance, don't try to fight. Once we're done with shearing, we'll give you a little hay, and show you something silly, so you'll have nothing else to say..." David repeated this about eight times, an attempt to keep his attention away from the actions that could be considered self-mutilation to most. To David, however, it was- now -the same thing as a small shock. Sure, it hurt at first, but once you feel that rush of energy, or- in this case -the flow of cool blood running down or through you, it isn't as scary. "Your mother's right beside you, waiting for your call. She's cheering for you proudly, to keep you from feeling so small."

The last cut of the day. The moment when he was satisfied with his pain. And the moment that was a blissful mixture of him about to pass out, but still reaching out for life, hoping to find any way to patch up his arms, and live through another day. Every time he did this, David was sure that he had finally given in to his father's words from long ago, but he refused to think back on the words now. He _had_ just finished shearing, after all.

Bandages wrapped around his arms, and he made sure they were tight, feeling as if they were nuzzling against him. Something his parents never did. He reveled in the feeling, letting a few tears slip out, before pulling himself together as he heard knocking from the front door.

"I'll be there in a minute!" David chimed, cleaning up the areas of the bathroom where the most blood was visible, and sauntering up to the door. Once opened, David was met with the sight of an angry Max, who was holding a small card in his hands. A smile danced its way onto David's face, and he invited Max in, not at all surprised as he was told to "Just take the card! Gwen made me do this, and it's embarrassing enough!"

"Well, at least you decided to do it." David hummed, accepting the card, and watching as Max left. Nothing more was said, and David sat on his bed, looking at the inside of the card and frowning. A bout of insults and scrutinizing words were scribbled about. Why David was surprised, he knew not, and he did nothing more than throw the card in the trash, lying down, and sleeping until the next morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In broad daylight, and without an embarrassed expression due to being forced to be nice, Max finally took notice of the bandages wrapped around David's arms. They ran from his wrists to his armpits, and looked as if they had been worn for no less than a day, what with them being almost soaked in blood. At one point, Dolph had walked up and asked about the bandages, being told that David had fallen down on his way out, having walked into the forest for a bit. Much to Max's dismay, Dolph accepted the answer, walking off cheerily.

"Hey, what do you think those bandages are really for?" Max asked, nudging Neil and looking to Nikki.

"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with yesterday." Neil whispered, flinching as Max slammed his hands down. "I don't mean that it's your fault! David just looked a little... _tired_ yesterday. Maybe he scratched himself a bit too much?"

"Wow, that's a great guess." Max huffed, he and the others looking up when Gwen announced that it was time to start the day. It was no more enthusiastic than she normally was, but it was still weird. Normally, David was the one who announced the day's activities, but maybe this was a one time thing.

"So, according to this list... there's... nothing on it." Gwen sighed, looking to David, who gave a weak smile. With an eye roll, Gwen instructed the kids to go outside, promising that she and David would be out with them soon. Of course, they all just _had_ to be nosy, so they hid one of Space Kid's walkie-talkies in a corner, walking to the side of the mess hall. Soon enough, the static turned into sound, and everyone shut up.

_"David, you can't keep doing this to yourself."_ came Gwen's disappointed voice, followed by a scoff.

_"I'd rather do this than end up like my father did. You realize that we could be arrested if I tried to drown one of the children in the shallow end of the lake, don't you?"_ came David's unamused voice. The two then talked intermittently, giving the kids something interesting to listen to for the time being.

_"Just... let me see what you did this time."_

_"Oh, you really don't want to see."_

_"Yes I do. And I want to see, now."_

_"Gwen-"_

_"NOW, David!"_ a low sigh filled the pause between the two, and soft rustling lead to a sharp, yet broken gasp. _"YOU'VE BEEN CUTTING YOURSELF?!"_

Each child gasped, unable to do much else about the situation. For something as blatant and terrifying as that to be said about and to one of the happiest people on Earth, was near heartbreaking, and if he were being honest, Max could have sworn that he'd managed to see the _exact moment_ when some of the others' hearts broke.

_"It's cathartic, Gwen. Besides, my parents didn't care, my siblings didn't care... the campers don't care... so why should I?"_

_"What the fuck, David?! Do you see how close you got to this vein?! You could have broken it, and I wouldn't have known! No one would have! You could have-"_

_"Ended it all in one. Swift. Movement. I know. Impressive, isn't it?"_ Gwen stood, mouth hanging wide open as she waited for some sort of twisted answer. _"What I mean, is that the body can stop all functions in some of the most interesting ways. Snap someone's neck, and they're gone as quickly as they were breathing the day before. Hit someone with a car, and they die due to blunt force trauma. Shoot them, they die of blood loss. Heheh... cut even the smallest vein dead on, and they end up losing blood from that, as well. How pathetic."_

"Guys... I don't wanna listen to this anymore..." Harrison whimpered, backing up towards Preston.

"I don't either. This is scary..." Space Kid agreed, hugging close to Ered. Max huffed, standing, and walking to the front of the mess hall. Shouts of protest and terror followed him, but they fell on deaf ears. Soon enough, Max kicked the doors open, tears streaming down his face as he stormed up to David. With a scowl, Max raised a fist, preparing to punch David, and breaking down before he could do so.

"HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU THINK THAT WE DON'T CARE?!" Max wailed, hugging David's legs, and doing nothing to stop David from picking him up. "You're so important to us! And you're not allowed to die until _I_ say so!"

David sighed, looking at Max's sorrow filled face, and feeling guilt for once in a long time after stopping his medicine. Without a word, David pulled Max close, smiling lightly as Max hugged back tightly, sniffling loudly. Not too long after, the rest of the campers ran up to David, hugging him with just as much force, and sobbing with just as much fervor. Pleads for David to not leave, and threats that they would revive his body with magic and/or science were sent towards him, and he too began crying. Almost an hour passed before Gwen urged the kids off to get washed up and calmed down. Once she got to Max, however, Gwen was surprised to see the boy looking to her with the widest and most pitiful eyes she'd ever seen him muster.

"Alright, fine. But no longer than another hour." Gwen ordered, walking off to help calm the other campers down with a smile of relief.

"I'm gonna wipe my snot on you, because what you did was unacceptable." Max murmured, using David's ascot to wipe his nose. "And you're gonna like it."

"Sounds like someone's getting tired." David commented quietly. Max protested softly, tightening his grip as much as his tiny arms would allow.

"Please don't hurt yourself again..." Max whimpered, moving back slightly to look into David's tired eyes.

"I promise." David whispered, raising a brow as Max huffed.

"_What_ do you promise?"

"I promise that I won't hurt myself. Ever again."

"Good." Max looked down at David's arms, cringing at the sight, but becoming surprised once he noticed something. "They make a picture..."

"Can you see what they make?" David asked softly, shifting to make the picture easier to make it more noticeable.

"It's... me...?" Max asked, looking to David. The man nodded, smiling as he was then headbutted lightly. "Asshole..."

"I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've always wondered how David would do without his "Happy Pills," which had been shown in the episode Cult Camp. Since they're called "Happy Pills," I'm assuming that they're anti-depressants, so I wanted to test out how much of a negative effect I could come up with.


End file.
